MLB 2017 Preview Minnesota Twins

MLB 2017 Preview Minnesota Twins - The Minnesota Twins stumbled to a plain old bad 59-103 record in 2016.

Gone is 3rd baseman Trevor Plouffe, who is with Oakland Athletics for 2017. Expected to fill in for Plouffe will be Miguel Sano who at 23 years old is part of the youth movement Twins fans will see. Brian Dozier was the lone bright spot in the Minnesota line-up and his torrid second half of last year could see him traded in the early going this season. Joe Mauer is still here getting paid and veterans Jorge Polanco, Byung HO Park and Kennys Vargas are all going to be in the everyday line-up.

At catcher the Twins lost Kurt Suzuki and they have youngster Jason Castro to replace him. Castro is a defensive wiz but he has hit .210 in close to 400 major league plate appearances.

MLB 2017 Preview Minnesota Twins
The pitching will be largely the same as last year with Ervin Santana the #1 starter in*the rotation again. Veteran hurlers*Hector Santiago, Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes figure to compete for starting jobs again. The relief corps will likely consist of Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressly and Matt Belisle and they are also counting on the return of southpaw Glen Perkins 'pen attempts to put last year's terrible performance behind them. Jose Berrios may get a shot at starting and right-hander Tyler Duffey and 23-year-old Adalberto Mejia bring much needed youth. Thy will miss*Trevor May who underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-March and will miss the season.

The hope hangs in the team reverting to 2015 form, which isn't going to happen. Hope for the future came in the form of a top draft pick and a re-vamped front office led by new GM Thad Levine.
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